ReliefWeb

In view of the forthcoming conference on Peace and State Building in Africa, to be held in Kigali, Rwanda from 16 to 19 February 2010, the second pre-conference consultation for African Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) on Peace and State Building in Africa organized by the Fragile States Unit of the African Development Bank, the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa is being held from 14 - 15 December 2009 in Juba, Sudan.

About thirty diverse CSOs, especially those working in post-conflict countries have come together to share their knowledge and experience on post-conflict reconstruction and development, the issues, problems, challenges and prospects for effective state-civil society engagement.

The series of pre-conference meetings are key steps in setting up the framework for the main conference to promote an African led discourse on the issues of peace and state formation in Africa in the context of post-conflict reconstruction and reconciliation.

The pre-conference will examine the particular challenges that African CSOs and emerging authorities are facing in post-conflict situations and the role CSOs can or are already playing in post-conflict countries and how such can be enhanced in promoting durable peace, stability and effective states in those countries.

The pre-conference consultation will also facilitate better understanding of the work of CSOs in post-conflict contexts, and how such can be improved upon at engendering effective peace and state building.

Finally, the meeting will identify innovative ideas and effective strategies for defining the role and contribution of local CSOs in the recovery and rehabilitation in countries under difficult conditions, which would feed into the discussions at the regional conference on Peace and State Building in Africa scheduled for February 2010 in Kigali, Rwanda.